Keene, Rayson shine again as men's basketball tops Bowling Green
Same story, different game.
Junior Marcus Keene and senior Braylon Rayson combined for 55 points to lead the Central Michigan men’s basketball team to an 82-76 win against Bowling Green Tuesday night at McGuirk Arena.
The backcourt tandem leads the nation in points combined and have been the Chippewas top scoring options all season long, and Tuesday was no different.
Keene, who was coming off of a 50-point performance on Saturday, led the Chippewas with 28 points, while Rayson added 27.
The win pushed the Chippewas’ record to 13-7 overall and 3-4 in the Mid-American Conference.
Although the duo continued to lead the Chippewas as they have all season, both players struggled shooting the ball from deep. Keene finished the game 3-of-12 from the 3-point line and Rayson shot 1-for-9 from beyond the arc.
“For us to be able to win, on an off shooting night with our defense is a great sign for us going forward,” said head coach Keno Davis.
The Chippewas led by as many as 15 points in the first half, but the Falcons battled back to cut the deficit to 63-57 with 7:19 remaining.
After Bowling Green trimmed the deficit to 63-59, CMU answered when freshman David DiLeo knocked down a corner 3-pointer to extended the Chippewas’ lead.
“Up to that point my shot was kind of struggling, but all of my teammates were like, ‘stay confident and keep shooting,’” DiLeo said. “On the way down (the court) Marcus told me to look for the shot. He told me to be ready and he hit me and I was able to shoot it right away. It felt good and it went in.”
BGSU kept the game within five points for the majority of the second half, forcing the Chippewas to grind out the win.
“We know basketball is a game full of runs,” Rayson said. “We know they’re going to go on a run and we’re going to go on our run. We just have to keep composed and stay calm.”
With CMU clinging to a 71-65 lead, junior forward Cecil Williams made a key steal with 1:20 remaining, which led to a Rayson layup to put the game out of reach.
"I think Cecil won us the game just off of his effort," Rayson said. "He went up and got a big-time rebound and then got a big-time steal and I think that sealed the game."
The Falcons opened the game with a quick 4-0 run, but the Chippewas controlled the tempo for most of the first half thanks to Rayson and Keene. The two accounted for 30 of the Chippewas’ 42 points before intermission.
Keene and Rayson each played 38 of the 40 minutes during the game. Davis said he hopes as the season progresses, he’ll be able to get them more rest.
“We know Braylon and Marcus can play a lot of minutes, but 38 to 40 minutes isn’t ideal,” he said. “We’d like to be able to get them a couple breaks throughout both halves.
“I’m hopeful as teams start shorting their bench as the conference season goes on, we’ll only be going to (our bench) for more minutes. That should keep us fresher not only through the rest of the season, but at the end of games.”
The Chippewas will take on Kent State Saturday at noon in Kent, Ohio.
